March 10, 2012

Ten Things I Did In The Past Ten Years

Last week I was in Beijing to renew my passport, because it’s going to expire. It’s been ten years since I got it; pretty
crazy to think of how fast time goes.
As I thought about the fact that it’s been a full ten years since I had
to last do this, I had the thought of taking a moment to reflect on my past ten
years. Here are ten things I did in the
past ten years.

*Left it all… Nearly ten years ago I had the realization
that my work wasn’t fulfilling me. That
there was something else out there for me.
Shortly after that I left my job, my family and friends.

*Took a road less traveled – I went to Colorado to pursue getting to
know Jesus and how to serve/love others.
It certainly wasn’t a well worn road, but taking it has made all the
difference.

*Saw the world – I had the privilege of getting to see a lot
of the world in the past ten years.
Places stateside, like New York, Colorado, and San Francisco. But even better I got to see places like,
North Africa, The Caribbean, Mexico, China, Thailand, Chile, Argentina,
Colombia and Hong Kong.

*Got married – Life is much more enjoyable when you’re
sharing it with someone. I’m grateful to
have met my best friend and even more grateful that I was
able to convince her to marry me. This
year we will have been married for eight years.

*Started our family – Our first child,
Sydney, was born six years ago, following her we had Aubrey (almost four years
old) and Caleb (a year a half old).

*Left it all, again… For
the second time in my past ten years I said goodbye to many of the people I
loved, when Heather and I moved our family to China nearly four years ago.

*Saw some cool stuff – I have been incredibly fortunate to have
been able to see some awesome stuff. The
desert in North Africa, a volcanic beach in Chile, the Andes Mountains, the ocean in multiple places, the Great Wall, the
Forbidden City, the mountains of Colorado, overlooked Hong Kong from Mt. Victoria, the Golden Gate bridge, and about a million other things that my wife doesn't think are cool enough to make this list (but I know better.)

*Learned to speak Chinese – One of the hardest languages in the
world. Or at least that’s what people
say. I mean, how do they measure
that? Anyways, I don’t feel anywhere
near fluent, but I am able to communicate with Chinese people and that’s
rewarding.

*Started adoption/foster care journey – Many of you who read our blog know that a
little over a year ago Heather and I began fostering our daughter Lily. We want to adopt her when we reach the
minimum age requirement of 30. Since
then we’ve also started fostering two more kids, Ellie and Sammie. This was a huge turn in our life that we
didn’t see coming, but are grateful for.

*Learned a bit about this person I call
myself – I can’t say I knew
anything about myself ten years ago. I
was just a stupid kid with high hopes.
Luckily, Jesus has been continuing to teach me. To be honest, I don’t even think I knew much
about myself before coming to China.
Being here, on this journey, has taught me a lot about myself.

Along the way
I’ve been incredibly blessed to have been able to work with some amazing people. I wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for the
amazing and supportive people I've had around me.